Elastomeric floor covering



ELAST OMERIC FLOOR COVERING James N. Mason, Winchester, Mass., assignor to Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 31, 1951, ser. No. 662,768

z claims. (c1. 154-49) This invention comprises a new and improved elastomeric oor covering, using that term to mean oor covering of natural or synthetic rubber as well as plastic composition.

Many types of this elastomic floor covering are molded with special surface contours and with special decorative designs in color imprinted on the exposed surface of the ooring prior to molding. The finished product is a tiooring with a predetermined colored surface pattern and a distinct surface texture modifying the appearance of the iiooring by scattering reected light in different directions.

Such oorings are usually made by printing a homogeneous base stock of desired thickness with a decorative surface pattern of inks, colored latices, or plastic compositions having diterent colors from the base stock. Since the base stock is ordinarily not completely covered by the overlying pattern, the color ofthe base stock shows as an additional surface color and this may be made to contribute to the pattern. For certain uses the base stock may be substantially obscured by the colored inks of the printed or sprayed pattern and in such flooring the base stock is usually of much cheaper material than the pattern inks.

In the actual use of iioorings made as above described, a serious problem has arisen due -to the fact that the surface pattern stocks are thin and tend toA wear through on the ridges or raised portions of the surface contour. The worn areas thus occurring allow the base color to show as a wear pattern, thereby partially destroying fthe original contrastingly colored surface pattern and radically impairing the appearance of the licor-ing in the worn area. This objectionable change in appearance greatly reduces the service life of the product and decreases its value.

I have discovered that these objections may be obviated and other advantages achieved -by establishing a novel relation between the base stock, the colored decorative pattern, and the surface configuration or texture of the flooring. For example, in ooring having a molded contour pattern of ridges or corrugations, or at least of elongated raised portions which may take the form of regularly 'arranged ridges, vthe wear pattern resulting from the wearing away of the tops of these ridges will then consist of more or less straight or long oval areas having the color of the exposed base stock. In accordance with the present invention it is now proposed to imprint on the surface of the flooring a colored pattern which is carefully designed to include areas resembling both in color, size and eye eect the yworn areas which will subsequently be developed due to ordinary wear of the ooring. These special areas of the imprinted design may consist of irregular elongated lines, or areas of special shapes, which coincide with the areas normally developed on the particular surface contour of the covering due to wear, that is to say, the ridge or rib areas.

In one aspect the elastomeric iiooring of this invention may be described as presenting a corrugated wearing surface and including in its structure an underlying ply of elastomeric material of uniform color and an overlying United States Patent O p ICC colored ornamental surface design thereon including in its pattern a multiplicity of lines coinciding in location and direction with the crests of the corrugations and being of the same color as the underlying base ply.

For example, the underlying ply may be of a dark color and the decorative surface layer of lighter color, but including at least one color similar to that of the darker base stock, or the arrangement may be reversed and the underlying ply may be of a light color and the surface layer mainly of darker colors in the valleys and light color on the ridges.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of one embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of flooring having a typical print pattern,

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view in cross section on an enlarged scale, showing the pattern layer as worn from the crests of the corrugations,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the wear pattern, and

Fig. 4 is a view of the ooring of Fig. 1 after it has been subjected to wear.

The floor covering shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises an underlying body 8 of solid dark colored elastomeric material molded to present in its uppersurface a series of uniform=ly"spaced parallel corrugations. A typicalrubbertype composition is the following:

5.00 pounds 40.00 pounds 5.00 pounds 1.25 pounds 8.00 pounds .30 pound .10 pound .50 pound .50 pound 2.00 pounds 37.35 pounds 100.00 pounds total A typical plastic-type composition is as follows:

pounds weight of polyvinyl chloride 25 pounds weight of dioctylphtholate 10 pounds weight of tricresylphosphate pounds weight of calcium carbonate 1 pound weight of stearic acid 5 pounds weight of basic lead carbonate 1 pound weight of carbon black 267 pounds total Prior to the molding operation an ornamental surface pattern is applied to the upper face o-f the base stock by printing with inks, latex emulsions, or plastic compositions or in any convenient manner. The decorative surface layer applied in this manner may be relatively thin, for example not be over .01" in thickness and its material may be considerably more expensive than the composition of the underlying base stock. The ornamented base stock is now bonded to a thick layer of inexpensive bottom stock 8 and molded therewith to -form longitudinal corrugations or ridges 9. In general the applied pattern will be distinguished by the portions applied and contained in the valleys between the ribs or ridges 9 of the ooring in contrast with the base color appearing upon the crest of the ribs after extensive wear has occurred.

When the ribbed flooring of Fig. i is subjected to wear, it develops a Wear pattern like that suggested in Fig. 3, that is to say, the decorative surface material is worn from tlle'crestsofthe` ribs in some such areas as those indicated by the dark streaks inFig. 3. been established empiricallyv and depends on the location receiving the wear and the texture and Wear-resisting characteristics ofthe material .in those particular areas.

Fig. 4.1epresents the appearance of the partially worn matting and is derivedk from superposing thewear. pattern of Fig. 3 uponthe unworn pattern of Fig. 1. The effect of wear. is to u-ncoveror enlarge areas of base .color in the material of the base stock, and on account of the arrangement and disposition of the pattern this increase in the visible base color areasdoes not result in any conspicuous alteration in lthe original ornamental pattern. This is apparent from a comparison ofzFigs. 1 and 4. .As an illustration of the actual inconspicuous change in the appearance of the pattern, attention is called to the arcas l() and 11 in Fig. 1the worn area12 in Fig. 3, and the supcrposed eect of the area 12 shown in combination with the areas and 11 in Fig. 4. Similar differences between the unworn and worn patterns may be detected on close examination of Figs. l and 4, but it is strikingly ThisV has.,

thin surface layer substantially entirely covering said underlying ply not. more than 0.01. in. thickness and of a lighter color displayed in an ornamental pattern including discontinuous darker lines corresponding in color to said underlying ply and extending generally lengthwise of the crests of the corrugated wearing surface, whereby the ornamental pattern of the flooring will remain substantially unchanged when the crests of the thin surface layer have beenremoved by wear.

2. A new type of elastomeric flooring presenting a corrugated wearing surface and including an underlying ply olelastomeric 'materialjota uniform base colorrand a thin surface layer superimposed above and substantially covering saidunderlyingply, `notrmore than about 0.01 in thickness, the surface layer presenting various different colors displayed in an ornamental pattern yincluding discontinuous areas corresponding in color to the color of said underlying ply and extending generally upon and in the direction of the crests of the corrugated wearing surface, whereby the-.ornamental lpattern of the flooring will remain substantially unchanged when the crests of the surface layer have been removed by Wear.

References Cited in the leof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,751,545 Glidden et al. Mar. 25, 1930 LQSSASO Carpenter Dec. 25, 1934 1,989,703 Legu-illon Feb. 5, 1935 1,989,704 Leguillon c Feb. 5, 1935 2,243,736 Loblein o- May 27, 1941 2,818,824 Read et al s Jan. 7, 1958 

1. A NEW TYPE OF ELASTOMERIC FLOORING PRESENTING A CORRUGATED WEARING SURFACE AND INCLUDING AN UNDERLYING PLY OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL OF A UNIFORM DARK COLOR, AND A THIN SURFACE LAYER SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY COVERING SAID UNDERLYING PLY NOT MORE THAN 0.01" IN THICKNESS AND OF A LIGHTER COLOR DISPLAYED IN AN ORNAMENTAL PATTERN INCLUDING DISCONTINUOUS DARKER LINES CORRESPONDING IN COLOR TO SAID UNDERLYING PLY AND EXTENDING GENERALLY LENGTHWISE OF THE CRESTS OF THE CORRUGATED WEARING SURFACE, WHEREBY THE ORNAMENTAL PATTERN OF THE FLOORING WILL REMAIN SUBSTANTIALLY UNCHANGED WHEN THE CRESTS OF THE THIN SURFACE LAYER HAVE BEEB REMOVED BY WEAR. 